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Review

The Intransitive Logic of Directed Cycles and Flipons Enhances the Evolution of Molecular Computers by Augmenting the Kolmogorov Complexity of Genomes

by
Alan Herbert
InsideOutBio, 42 8th Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(22), 16482; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216482
Submission received: 18 September 2023 / Revised: 14 November 2023 / Accepted: 14 November 2023 / Published: 18 November 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 25th Anniversary of IJMS: Advances in Biochemistry)

Abstract

Cell responses are usually viewed as transitive events with fixed inputs and outputs that are regulated by feedback loops. In contrast, directed cycles (DCs) have all nodes connected, and the flow is in a single direction. Consequently, DCs can regenerate themselves and implement intransitive logic. DCs are able to couple unrelated chemical reactions to each edge. The output depends upon which node is used as input. DCs can also undergo selection to minimize the loss of thermodynamic entropy while maximizing the gain of information entropy. The intransitive logic underlying DCs enhances their programmability and impacts their evolution. The natural selection of DCs favors the persistence, adaptability, and self-awareness of living organisms and does not depend solely on changes to coding sequences. Rather, the process can be RNA-directed. I use flipons, nucleic acid sequences that change conformation under physiological conditions, as a simple example and then describe more complex DCs. Flipons are often encoded by repeats and greatly increase the Kolmogorov complexity of genomes by adopting alternative structures. Other DCs allow cells to regenerate, recalibrate, reset, repair, and rewrite themselves, going far beyond the capabilities of current computational devices. Unlike Turing machines, cells are not designed to halt but rather to regenerate.
Keywords: evolution; flipons; kolmogorov complexity; dissipative structures; hypercycles; directed cycles; intransitive logic; peptide patches; junk DNA; DNA repeats; microRNA; Alu; condensate; free energy; entropy evolution; flipons; kolmogorov complexity; dissipative structures; hypercycles; directed cycles; intransitive logic; peptide patches; junk DNA; DNA repeats; microRNA; Alu; condensate; free energy; entropy

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MDPI and ACS Style

Herbert, A. The Intransitive Logic of Directed Cycles and Flipons Enhances the Evolution of Molecular Computers by Augmenting the Kolmogorov Complexity of Genomes. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 16482. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216482

AMA Style

Herbert A. The Intransitive Logic of Directed Cycles and Flipons Enhances the Evolution of Molecular Computers by Augmenting the Kolmogorov Complexity of Genomes. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24(22):16482. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216482

Chicago/Turabian Style

Herbert, Alan. 2023. "The Intransitive Logic of Directed Cycles and Flipons Enhances the Evolution of Molecular Computers by Augmenting the Kolmogorov Complexity of Genomes" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24, no. 22: 16482. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216482

APA Style

Herbert, A. (2023). The Intransitive Logic of Directed Cycles and Flipons Enhances the Evolution of Molecular Computers by Augmenting the Kolmogorov Complexity of Genomes. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(22), 16482. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242216482

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